School of Marine Science and Engineering (HP) (Faculty of Science and Engineering (HP))

Biography

Role

I have a broad background in the geomorphology and hydrodynamics and have studied or worked in the academic sector for over 16 years. My principal interest is geomorphology, and I specialise in fluvial systems and sediment transport. I have authored multiple peer-reviewed articles, most recently on the transport dynamics of complex bio-mediated sediments, and regularly present at international conferences. My research work has spanned a range of experimental facilities and field environments and I have expertise in an array of specialist instruments for measuring flow & sediment properties. I have co-authored successful research grants including RCUK standard grants, the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) for innovative collaboration with industry, and for the development of novel instrumentation.

I have undertaken field-based research campaigns in the UK, Canada, Iceland and the High Arctic in rivers, lakes, estuaries, the littoral zone and glaciers. I have undertaken experiments in several of the UK’s principal hydrodynamics facilities including Plymouth’s COAST Lab, The Total Environment Simulator at Hull University, the Sorby Environmental Dynamics Laboratory at Leeds University and CEH Dorset’s Fluvarium. I specialise in physical modelling experiments and have previously undertaken scaled studies on sediment transport, flow around in-stream vegetation and the undermining of engineered structures through scour.

I have constantly sought to combine experimental rigour with innovation throughout my career and strongly believe in a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling contemporary environmental issues. Since arriving in Plymouth in 2009 I have forged links with different research groups across the University including biologists, geochemists, engineers, geologists and geographers. In addition, I have worked with the Plymouth Electron Microscope Centre to develop their ability to characterize complex sediments using microscopy.

I currently work for the Marine Institute leading a project that examines the potential for‘bio-seeding’ of sediment as an alternative to hard-engineering approaches to scour and erosion. This patent-protected technology takes a holistic approach that aims to simultaneously protect infrastructure and minimize the anthropogenic disturbance of natural habitats. The work encompasses multiple disciplines (structural engineering, hydraulics & sediment transport, the biology and ecology of benthic communities) which we are actively developing in partnership with environmental and commercial sectors. This exemplifies the real-world, problem-solving nature of my work.

Qualifications

I secured funding from two rounds of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) to initiate and develop a project with HR Wallingford that examines how scour dynamics are modified by physical and biological cohesion. The experiments address a significant flaw in current engineering guidelines and results will be integrated into existing guidelines.

I designed the experiments, acquired instrumentation, and undertook the experiments at Plymouth University's COAST Lab. In addition, I helped design, fabricate and retro-fit a sediment scour pit in the flume facility.

Furthermore, the results indicate that cohesive, bio-engineered sediments may have a new, previously unrecognised role in scour management.This has culminated in a patent application for this emerging technology and a forthcoming EPSRC standard grant proposal.

School of Marine Science & Engineering,University of Plymouth, UK (2014-5)

Specialist Technician, COAST Laboratory.

As specialist technician in one of Europe's most sophisticated ocean basin laboratories I worked first hand with scientists and engineers at the cutting-edge of coastal structure design and renewable energy devices. My role was split between teaching and consultancy. I worked with undergraduate, MSc & PhD students in the development of their research programmes, advised on experimental design, taught then specialized technique sand use of instrumentation, and mentored them during lab times.

As a specialist in sediment transport I led the drive to re-configure the laboratory to better undertake sediment transport studies, ultimately culminating in the installation of a scour pit and collaborative projects with industry.

School of Marine Science & Engineering,University of Plymouth, UK (2012-4).

PDRA (Research Co-supervisor), NERC-funded COHBED project.

I developed the project from its inception; responsible for project coordination at Plymouth University;responsible for the planning and completion of large-scale flume experiments at the University of Hull as Visiting Researcher. Specific responsibilities were student training and support, fieldwork planning and coordination, project outreach and authorship, and MSc thesis supervision.

National Science & Environmental Research Council of Canada (NSERC) funded examination of bed roughness effects on 3D dispersion for prediction of near-field transport of biological and toxilogical scalars. I led a team of undergraduate and MSc students in fieldwork that characterized the effects of boundary roughness on turbulence modification and dispersion over rough-bedded rivers and lakes using ADV, ADCP & fluorometry. Ultimately, this information was used by Fisheries & Oceans Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to deploy traps for invasive fish species in the Great Lakes system.

Study of the role of vegetation in modifying 3D flow and turbulence structure, with the primary aim of improving CFD parameterization. Field and flume experiments were used,including particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Emphasis was placed on the effects of different macrophyte morphologies and flow depth revealing significant differences in hydrodynamics between flood vs. baseflow conditions and submergent vs. emergent species. I developed an initial hydrodynamic classification of macrophytes.

Awarded1st Class degree including Robin Mills Prize for Research in Geomorphology based on dissertation work, “Seasonal Evolution of Supra-Glacial Channels on Kokbreen Glacier, Svalbard.”

Professional membership

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Challenger Society for Marine Science

British Sedimentological Research Group

British Society for Geomorphology

Teaching

Teaching interests

My teaching roles have spanned first year undergraduate to PhD level; ranged from individual mentorship to large classes, and; have been undertaken in classroom,seminar, field and laboratory environments.

Management of research across multiple facilities,including undergraduate & post-graduate; one-on-one and group instruction on use of facilities & instrumentation; teaching methodological practice;experimental planning and optimization; analytical techniques.

MSc Supervisor: Applied Marine Science, Plymouth University (2013).

Joint-supervised Pernille Forsberg on her thesis, “Temporal and spatial variations of suspended particle matter and flocculation properties in a shallow mixed-sediment estuarine environment, The Dee Estuary, UK”. I guided her experimental design, taught key field techniques, supervised in the field,tutored her in analytical techniques and writing skills. She was awarded 67%.

In addition, I am interested in the development of measurement of techniques including acoustic (ABS, ADV) and particle imaging techniques (PIV, floc cameras) for the quantification of turbulence and sediment suspensions, and the development of signal processing techniques.

A multidisciplinary team from theUniversities of Bangor, Plymouth, Hull, St. Andrews with the NationalOceanographic Centre (Liverpool). We examined the physics, biology,sedimentology and mathematics of ripple and dune bedforms to investigate, forthe first time, key factors that control the behaviour and properties ofbedforms in mixed cohesive and non-cohesive environments: (i) System energy:effects of flow velocity, bed friction and flow depth; (ii) Bed properties:particle size, proportion of mud and sand, and biological effects, (iii) Time:the speed of bedform growth and rate of change as flow energy changes; (iv)Particle erosion: changes in the bedforms as smaller particles are eroded away.Experiments were undertaken in flume and field and include the development ofcutting-edge technologies, yielding several high-impact papers. The study wasguided by a numerical modelling committee and has yielded new parameterisationsand predictive capability.

Research groups

Marine Physics Research Group

Publications

PEER REVIEWED

Schindler,R.J., Whitehouse, R., Harris, J. and Stripling, S. (2016). The Influence of Physical Cohesion on Scour around a Monopile. Proceedings of the International Conference on Scour & Erosion,Oxford, September 2016 (in press).

Personal

Reports & invited lectures

On the modification of boundary layer struture by in-stream macrophytes. Seminar series, School of Geography, University of Western Ontario, Canada, May 2006.

Invitation to speak on "Shear- and mixing-layer development around vegetation in atmospheric and open-channel flows". Joint annual general meeting of the AGU/CGU, Banff, Alberta, May 2008. Invitation declined due to other commitments.

13th National Summer School in Geophysical and Environmental Flow Dynamics (National Environmental Research Council and University of Cambridge), Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge (September2003)

Links

Coastal, Ocean & Sediment Transport Research Group, University of Plymouth